We shall use the term aspect,inspired on the verbal
category, to refer to a temporal perspective grounded on the nature of the
action sequence itself and of its causal connection to other elements of the
action.

Grammarians
have introduced several aspectual distinctions when studying the verbal system
of languages, and we can use some of them by analogy.[1]
Frequency (singulative / repetitive / iterative aspects) is one dimension of
narrative aspect.[2]
We might add the dimensions of unfolding (inchoative / progressive /
terminative / perfective aspects) and inherent duration (punctual / durative /
permanent aspects).

Frequency

"Frequency" is the relationship between the
repetitions in the action and those in the story.[3]As we noted in our first section, the
notion of repetition depends on identity, and this is an operative
concept.Repeated elements are
being considered insofar as they are alike; this does not mean that there are
no differences between them.[4]There are four main types of frequency:
singulative, which involves a one-to one relationship between action
events and their rendering in the story; repetitive,when
the same event in the action is narrated a number of times (for instance, from
a variety of perspectives), and iterative,when the story gathers
into a common mention a number of similar occurrences in the action‹the
narrative of Flaubert and that of Proust, for instance, are dominated by
iterativity; this movement is associated with memory and habit, and is
especially common in modern autobiographies, being a way to underline the
common occurrences which gave a particular character to a given time or which
contributed to the setting up of character traits and personal associations.[5]The fourth movement, which we shall
call frequentative, is half-way between the singulative and
the iterative, and occurs when the story narrates a limited number of times an
event which is itself indefinitely repetitive in the action.[6]The frequentative is often used to
create mood or symbolic values, or to underline character traits; it emphasizes
the repetition of events in a way the iterative does not, and that to a varying
degree which depends on the writer's will.

Unfolding

This is an aspectual category which requires an referential
point from which the degree of unfolding is measured.The moment of enunciation is a central point of deictic
orientation in narrative texts.There are, however, other possible "now"-points which can act
as a reference, such as the spatial/temporal position of the focalizer, and
that of the characters as well.Both are logically subordinated to the enunciative now-point.Their use as reference points is
therefore not a necessity but a rhetorical figure.An action which is finished from the point of view of the
narrator can be presented in the course of its development if we adopt the perspective
of the focalizer.An event may be perfective
for the focalizer, progressive for a character.

Genette's
study of snares and false snares (1980: 77), based as it is on the standardized
nature of action materials and of the causal sequence between them, could
easily fall under the heading of aspectual unfolding.Also, stress may fall either on the inception or on the
conclusion of action sequences, or of the action itself.If a narrative shows a marked
preference for the suggestiveness of sequential inceptions, we may call its
aspect inchoative; if it prefers to begin in medias resand
place stress on endings, its aspect will be terminative.

Inherent Duration

As a category of verbal aspect, duration is implicit in the
verb itself.Or maybe we should
say it is a form of predication.We can use the classifications of forms of predication at sentence level
as a reference point for the study of the inherent duration of narrative
events.[7]

Predications

PropertiesSituations

StatesOccurrences
/ actions

Processes
/ activitiesevents / performances

Developments
/ AccomplishmentsPunctual ocurrences /Achievements

Each
predication in the story refers to a state of affairs in the action.A specific segment of the story will
refer to a state of affairs which will be more or less durative or transitory‹a
character trait, a mood, a sudden event.The representation of punctual occurrences is closest to the mimetic
illusion of coincidence between action and discourse, while more durative
action traits will require a variety of techniques if their permanence or
rhythm is to be given a role in the narrative.The aspectuality of action events is potential and manifold,
and the story may favour certain aspects, certain types of development, which
will constitute the actualized aspectuality of the story.

Any of
the aspects we have analyzed can be used in a deviant way.That is, an aspectual construction may
be imposed on an activity or event whose inherent aspectuality, or the
aspectuality it is most commonly associated with are at odds with the new
construction.For instance, an
event which is so individually characterized as to be recognized as unique may
be presented in an iterative construction, yielding a pseudo-iterative.[8]A punctual action may be presented
atemporally, yielding a pseudo-property or a pseudo-state; an
inchoative action may be presented as a durative one, etc.

[2]The
study of frequency is dealt with by Genette as a category of narrative time.
Genette notes the grammatical relationship (1980: 113) but disregards aspectual
distinctions other than those of frequency. That Genette tends to reduce all
questions of narrative aspect under the perspective of the aspectual polarity
singulative / iterative becomes evident when he describes a sentence such as
"water boils at one-hundred degrees" as "iterative
narrative" (1980,212 n.).